The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for evacuating, tipping and emptying containers including but not limited to barrels, drums and gaylords by inverting the container either partially or fully so that the contents may be removed.
In many manufacturing operations particularly in the plastic fabrication, pharmaceutical and other areas, it is not uncommon for some of the materials that are employed in the operation to be shipped to the manufacturing facility in heavy containers such as drums, barrels or gaylords. Drums are typically 55 gallon drums, usually made of plastic or metal, that are cylindrical but can be other shapes as well. Barrels can be the traditional barrels such as those made with staves either of wood or other suitable material including metal and plastic or more modem examples which are made without individual staves. Gaylords are typically cubic corrugated containers although they can be made of other material such as plastic and metal. Each of these containers has in common the fact that they cannot typically be manually inverted without some mechanical aid.
These containers may be delivered by any number of means to the manufacturing facility and are stored until they are required for use in the manufacturing process. The containers can be stored anywhere on the manufacturing site as desired and can be transported from the storage location by any suitable means such as by a fork lift, a conveyor belt, etc. Once the contents of the container are needed, the forklift or other device will remove the container from the storage site and transport it to the location where it is needed. There, the container is either emptied all at once or only portions are removed from time to time on an as needed basis.
For some products contained in the container, such as plastic pellets or powders and the like, a vacuum system or similar conveyance means can be used to remove the material from the drum, either in the storage area or at or near the work site, and transport it through piping or duct work to wherever it is needed for manufacturing purposes. Liquids contained in the drum can be transported in a similar manner. For example, a pump can be used to remove liquids contained in the drum and transport it through pipe to the desired equipment for processing. However, there are frequently other types of materials contained in the drums that cannot be transported in these ways and the container must be tipped or inverted to remove the contents. Such materials could for example be viscous materials that cannot be readily pumped except by complex and expensive means. Other times, the nature of the manufacturing facility is such that the drum, barrel or gaylord must be tipped or inverted to remove the contents. For example, extensive piping for pumping liquids, pellets or powders can be expensive to design, build and maintain. In addition, where there are a variety of mixing or compounding operations being performed in the facility using a variety of different materials it is not always feasible to use piping as the piping would have to be evacuated and flushed of the prior material when each material is used in the system. Because of contamination issues, frequently, these piping systems are only economically feasible where they can be dedicated to one particular type of material for significant periods of time to reduce the frequency that the system must be flushed.
As a result, for many products and manufacturing operations there is a need to have the contents of the drum emptied in a simple cost-effective manner. Since these drums and barrels are large and their contents weigh a considerable amount manually emptying these drums is not feasible and as a result, an apparatus that empties the drum must be used. In some facilities, the drum may be emptied by an apparatus that is mounted on a standard forklift. One advantage of using a forklift to empty a drum is the portability factor. A forklift can lift the drum and bring the drum to any location in the facility for emptying.
Although a drum tipping apparatus attached to a fork lift has the advantage of portability, such apparatus does have limitations in many high volume applications where the vat or receptacle where the contents are to be delivered is relatively large. The maximum distance of travel of the fork on many forklifts is an impediment to using the forklift in many drum tipping applications. As the height of the rails for the fork lift increases the center of gravity of the combination of the barrel and the rails on the forklift can create a tipping hazard that could be injurious to plant personnel and/or waste raw materials. For example, due to the heavy weight of the container as the fork lift raises the container to its maximum height it is possible for the forklift to tip if the floor is uneven or if some other action disturbs the forklift in that position. As a result, many of these devices cannot raise the drum to reach high locations or there are significant restrictions on how far from the forklift the drum may be extended outwardly for tipping. Thus, the forklift is usually only used where the receptacle that the drum content is being delivered to is relatively low and/or the forklift can come relatively close to the receptacle. Accordingly, there is a need for improved apparatus for emptying containers including but not limited to drums, barrels and gaylords by tipping or inverting them to remove the contents.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for emptying containers including but not limited to drums, barrels and gaylords and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for tipping or inverting containers to remove the contents.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that has improved safety features to prevent damage to apparatus when the container is being raised and lowered.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for inverting a container whereby the container is raised and lowered by an arm that articulates in a horizontal plane.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus for inverting a container having a column that is generally vertically disposed and having a base end connected to a floor plate that is adapted to rest on a floor and a top end at the end of the column opposite the base end. The column is capable of rotating about the floor plate. The column has a carriage adapted for vertical movement within the column and the carriage is connected to an arm, the arm has a pair of motors, a first motor which provides the arm with motion in a horizontal plane and a second motor which inverts a container so that the contents of the container may be discharged.